diff --git a/lib/cpp/src/transport/TFileTransport.cpp b/lib/cpp/src/transport/TFileTransport.cpp
index 4615977..a9beff9 100644
--- a/lib/cpp/src/transport/TFileTransport.cpp
+++ b/lib/cpp/src/transport/TFileTransport.cpp
@@ -63,7 +63,8 @@
 
   // check if current file is still open
   if (fd_ > 0) {
-    // TODO: should there be a flush here?
+    // flush any events in the queue
+    flush();
     fprintf(stderr, "error, current file (%s) not closed\n", filename_.c_str());
     if(-1 == ::close(fd_)) {
       perror("TFileTransport: error in file close");
@@ -81,14 +82,19 @@
 
 
 TFileTransport::~TFileTransport() {
-  // TODO: Make sure the buffer is actually flushed
   // flush the buffer if a writer thread is active
   if (writerThreadId_ > 0) {
     // flush output buffer
     flush();
 
-    // send a signal to write thread to end
+    // set state to closing
     closing_ = true;
+
+    // TODO: make sure event queue is empty 
+    // currently only the write buffer is flushed
+    // we dont actually wait until the queue is empty. This shouldn't be a big 
+    // deal in the common case because writing is quick 
+
     pthread_join(writerThreadId_, NULL);
   }
 
@@ -116,7 +122,7 @@
 void TFileTransport::enqueueEvent(const uint8_t* buf, uint32_t eventLen, bool blockUntilFlush) {
   // make sure that event size is valid
   if ( (maxEventSize_ > 0) && (eventLen > maxEventSize_) ) {
-    T_DEBUG("msg size is greater than max event size: %lu > %u\n", eventLen, maxEventSize_);
+    T_ERROR("msg size is greater than max event size: %lu > %u\n", eventLen, maxEventSize_);
     return;
   }
 
@@ -176,7 +182,6 @@
     pthread_cond_wait(&flushed_, &mutex_);
   }
 
-  // TODO: don't return until flushed to disk
   // this really should be a loop where it makes sure it got flushed
   // because condition variables can get triggered by the os for no reason 
   // it is probably a non-factor for the time being
@@ -304,7 +309,7 @@
         }
         if (padding > (int32_t)chunkSize_) {
           T_DEBUG("padding is larger than chunk size, skipping event");
-          continue;
+         continue;
         }
         uint8_t zeros[padding];
         bzero(zeros, padding);
@@ -442,10 +447,10 @@
         throw TTransportException("TFileTransport: error while reading from file");
       } else if (readState_.bufferLen_ == 0) {  // EOF
         // wait indefinitely if there is no timeout
-        if (readTimeout_ == -1) {
+        if (readTimeout_ == TAIL_READ_TIMEOUT) {
           usleep(eofSleepTime_);
           continue;
-        } else if (readTimeout_ == 0) {
+        } else if (readTimeout_ == NO_TAIL_READ_TIMEOUT) {
           // reset state
           readState_.resetState(0);
           return false;
@@ -592,7 +597,7 @@
       // point and punt on the error 
       readState_.resetState(readState_.lastDispatchPtr_);
       char errorMsg[1024];
-      sprintf(errorMsg, "TFileTransport: log file corrupted at offset: %lu", 
+      sprintf(errorMsg, "TFileTransport: log file corrupted at offset:%lu", 
               offset_ + readState_.lastDispatchPtr_);
       perror(errorMsg);
       throw TTransportException(errorMsg);
@@ -645,7 +650,7 @@
   // seek to EOF if user wanted to go to last chunk
   if (seekToEnd) {
     uint32_t oldReadTimeout = getReadTimeout();
-    setReadTimeout(0);  
+    setReadTimeout(NO_TAIL_READ_TIMEOUT);
     // keep on reading unti the last event at point of seekChunk call
     while( readEvent() && ((offset_ + readState_.bufferPtr_) < minEndOffset)) {};
     setReadTimeout(oldReadTimeout);
@@ -745,7 +750,7 @@
   int32_t oldReadTimeout = inputTransport_->getReadTimeout();
   if (tail) {
     // save old read timeout so it can be restored
-    inputTransport_->setReadTimeout(0);
+    inputTransport_->setReadTimeout(TFileTransport::TAIL_READ_TIMEOUT);
   } 
 
   uint32_t numProcessed = 0;